Educational Science

Psychedelic Drugs Really Do Trigger a 'Higher' State of Consciousness

People who use psychedelic drugs have described the experience as feeling as though they have reached a higher state of consciousness. And now, a brain scan study backs them up. People in the study who used psychedelic drugs showed patterns of neural activity that were higher by some measures, compared...

Marijuana-Related ER Visits Spike Among Colorado Teens

The number of marijuana-related ER visits made by teens and young adults more than quadrupled at one Colorado hospital after the state legalized the drug, a new report finds. Researchers analyzed information from people ages 13 to 21 who visited the emergency room at Children's Hospital Colorado or one its...

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, writer and host of Closer to Truth, a public television series and online resource that features the world's leading thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. This essay, the final of a four-part series on the Self, is based on Closer to Truth episodes and videos,...

You Might Be Slightly Conscious Under Anesthesia

It's the stuff of nightmares: regaining consciousness while under general anesthesia. But according to a group of doctors in Finland, it may be that we never fully lose consciousness under anesthesia. Two new studies, both published in the July issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, suggest that the brain...

How Bright Lights May Help Wake Patients from a Coma

Could shining bright lights on comatose patients to encourage their natural circadian rhythms help them awaken? A small study from Austria says yes. The body's ability to awaken from a coma after severe brain injury is tied to its maintenance of its natural circadian rhythms, according to the study, which...

Are 'Flatliners' Really Conscious After Death?

Driven by ambition and curiosity to learn what lies on the other side of death, five medical students deliberately stop their hearts in order to experience the afterlife in the new thriller Flatliners (Sony Pictures), which opened in U.S. theaters on Sept. 29. They quickly discover that there are unexpected...

Marijuana's Mind-Altering Compound May Improve Memory

Marijuana's main psychoactive compound, THC, may improve memory, according to a new study in mice. However, more research is needed to see whether these findings would apply to people, the researchers said. The researchers found that old mice in the study experienced a dramatic improvement in cognitive functions after the...

Cigarettes, Alcohol & Pot: Why Some Young Smokers Combine Drugs

For young smokers, the pleasure of smoking a cigarette is greater when they are also drinking alcohol than when they are also smoking pot, according to a new study. The findings could have implications for helping people quit smoking, the researchers said. The researchers surveyed U.S. adults ages 18 to...

Marijuana: Facts About Cannabis

Marijuana is the slang term for portions of the Cannabis plant. It is one of the oldest psychoactive substances used by man. Marijuana, also called pot, weed, ganja, mary jane, and a host of other nicknames, is made from the Cannabis plant, which has three species: Cannabis sativa; Cannabis indica...